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Brewsmith · 09-10-2006, 11:55 PM

So last week I went out to my family's place on the Colorado River in Ehrenburg, AZ for some fun in the water, the 4x4, and for a few days of dove hunting. The view from our deck is this:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1031&c=1&userid=1766

Before I left I decided I'd do a brown ale while I was out there so I got the ingredients and loaded up the equipment and had at it. Recipe:

Opening Day Desert Brown

9.25 lbs. 2-row
0.5 lb. Crystal 75
0.5 lb. Crystal 150
0.25 lb. Victory
0.25 lb. Special Roast
0.25 lb. Chocolate

0.375 oz. Galena 12.0% 60 min
0.5 oz. Cascade 5.9% 15 min
0.5 oz. Liberty 3.6% 15 min
0.5 oz Liberty 5 min

White Labs 008 East Coast Ale

I set up the burner and pot on the deck:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1032&c=1&userid=1766

Mashed the grain:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1034&c=1&userid=1766

Started the runnoff and sparge:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1035&c=1&userid=1766
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1036&c=1&userid=1766

The boil went mostly without a hitch, although with it being 105 degrees outside more boiled off than anticipated. Then came the problem with immersion chillers that I see you guys mention from time to time that I don't have to deal with in LA, the tap water was like 90 degrees! The river wasn't much help either because the water temp was around 85. I got the temp as low as it would go and pitched, and put the fermenter on top of the washing machine. Then an idea struck me. How could I use ice to cool the fermenter down even more without submerging the fermenter or putting ice inside. The solution was inside the freezer. A kids treat that we had stacks of that were already in the perfect shape to fit around the bucket:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1037&c=1&userid=1766

I'll never look at an otter pop the same again.

**the_bird** · 09-11-2006, 12:03 AM

That is absolutely brilliant. Good work!

Orpheus · 09-11-2006, 12:06 AM

Pure effin' genius man!

Cregar · 09-11-2006, 12:10 AM

Very cool!!!

BTW... I grew up in Bullhead, I have never heard of Ehrenburg, AZ. Where is that located at?

Brewsmith · 09-11-2006, 12:12 AM

Right across from Blythe, CA off I-10. It's an old mining town that practically dissapeared, but there's a bunch or river rats hanging around. We hunt on the Indian Reservation just north of town.

Cregar · 09-11-2006, 12:17 AM

Man I miss the river. Mom's still lives in BH, but it's such a pain to go there now with all the Cal (no offence) people moving in and the how much it has grown. I remember it only having 1 police car and no traffic lights and no line to get to the river or lake. (Miss the old days)

Brewsmith · 09-11-2006, 12:29 AM

Our place is the same. Our family has been going out there for over 30 years. The boatramp in the pics used to be a lagoon. We used to be able to park our boat at the bottom of the steps from our deck. Then after the river flooded in the mid 80's they've kept the water level lower and the lagoon dried up. They turned it into a boatranp and put in a campground across from us.

Brewsmith · 09-11-2006, 12:31 AM

The reason so many CA people are moving out everywhere is that it's so freaking expensive to live here. I'm looking at getting out in a few years when I can save up enough to put a down payment on a house.

Cregar · 09-11-2006, 12:36 AM

My sister actually left BH to move to Cal. Still can't figure out why she did that.

Brewsmith · 09-11-2006, 12:38 AM

Where in CA? There are some great places, but I'm just outside LA and I'm getting tired of it.